1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an instrument for circular surgical stapling of hollow body organs and more particularly, to an instrument for effecting end-to-end, side-to-side, and side-to-end anastomoses and a disposable cartridge therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently in the prior art, several instruments are known for circular joining by staples of hollow body organs. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,638,652, 3,552,626, 3,388,487 and 3,193,165 all relate to instruments of this type, which are useful in surgical procedures involving the colon and the esophagus. Despite the fact that these instruments are known in the prior art, they have never been introduced into clinical use in the United States. These instruments, which are disclosed in the aforementioned patents, have the important drawback of requiring hand loading of the suturing staples into the staple magazine of the instrument after each use of the instrument. This means that once the instrument is actuated and its staples ejected and clinched, it must then be cleaned before the magazine can be manually refilled with staples. While being refilled, the instrument, of course, is inoperative and may not be further used in the on-going surgical operation. The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,626 discloses a form of the instrument in which the staple magazine and associated anvil of the instrument are interchangeable so that different sizes may be mounted on the same instrument body, but this arrangement is solely for the purpose of accommodating hollow body organs of different sizes.